2012. Dir: David Cronenberg. Starring: Robert Pattinson, Sarah Gadon, Kevin Durand, Emily Hampshire and Paul Giamatti. ●●●●○
In interviews David Cronenberg has repeatedly admitted that Robert Pattinson (or R.Pattz if you're down with the YA lingo) was not his first choice for the role of Eric Packer, investment banking billionaire and master of the universe. If memory serves me correctly Colin Farrell was originally linked to the role before the Twilight alumni got the role. It's an unlikely casting choice Cronenberg passes off as being for the investment Pattinson brings or for the right age and yet the baggage that he brings, the undead persona serve him well reminding us that Pattinson has significant promise as an actor as well as a star. Perhaps I'm being unfair starting a review of Cosmopolis adapted from Don DeLillo's 2003 novel on the merits of casting Pattinson, but on the other hand the 108 minute film comprises of duologue's with Pattinson usually in the confined space of the back of his stretch limousine so if the central casting had failed the whole film would have failed with it.
Normally I would now make a stab at summarising the plot, but this opaque curiosity barely has one, the limo crawls across New York to where Packer wants to have a haircut and as this odyssey progresses acquaintances, employees and lovers all provide prospective to the journey and what the future holds for our mysterious hero. All the while the Yuan is collapsing, Packer's marriage is disintegrating and society itself seems to be imploding. We see few of the supporting players arrive in Packer's bubble and none of them leave and only a tiny minority even consider the existence of each other, yet they all have a unique perspective on Packer's future and his character.
So if Cosmopolis (universal city Greek fans) isn't about the plot what is driving it? It's about mood, a foreboding atmospheric intensity that clings to Pattinson and it's about intellectual ideas some characters talk but many more pronounce - Samantha Morton especially spews out a collection of statements rather - and it's about the cult of money, the nameless celebrities who criss-cross Manhattan and London in their Prousted vehicles - isolating themselves from the populace around them, but when invited into their gleaming cars we see individuals as emotionless and vapid as the imposing exteriors.
Packer has lost the ability to feel. His vast portfolio, incomprehensible to the audience, has eaten away at his soul so sex, art, politics, family and even violence no longer elicit a response. And so Pattinson is perfect for the role, there's an emptiness in the eyes, so exploited in his casting as Edward Cullen, that invites us to believe this playboy desperate for any high. Finally his alt-Twilight career is paying off and I very much hope to see him stretch himself, working for other auteurs that play with his image.
The rest of the cast do a great job, however many of them are simple ciphers, they appear for single conversations and almost represent emotional states. Morton is detached, Juliet Binoche slutty, Jay Baruchel nervy, Paul Giamatti angry. Only Emily Hampshire as his assistant, called in on her day off and clearly in awe of his talents and sexuality (even during a prostate exam), gets the chance to show any range, something she grabs with both hands becoming a beacon of characterisation in the centre of the movie.
Cronenberg does a fantastic job of boiling down DeLillo's novel and capturing the relevance of the anti-capitalist sentiment. Whilst this is another film that fits in his later canon of movies that shoot for the audience's intellectual reactions rather than their physical ones - there's a gunshot wound at one point that stays remarkably un-Cronenbergian - there is a glimmer of his earlier work in the otherworldliness of it's leading character and the acceptance that society is balanced on a knife-edge and one slight tilt either way will inevitable lead to anarchy.
Overall Cosmopolis is divisive and dense, but although many viewers will want to escape from it's bleak ramblings a few will find it's black heart is worth the ticket price.
Thursday, 21 June 2012
Cosmopolis
Sunday, 11 March 2012
Weight of Expectation (Out this week - 10/03/12)
The title says it all. Whatever your views on the panopoly of cinematic releases this weekend they are mostly united by the pressure of delivering to expectations, whether in a literal narrative sense, or in the sense of public perception of the project. In the first category we find Michael Winterbottom's update of Tess of d'Urbervilles with it's Indian caste war setting or the challenge set by the copycat killer taunting Edgar Allen Poe, but it's more keenly felt in the second derivation. Adam Deacon makes his first big screen appearance after winning the BAFTA rising star award in February, and we'll begin to find out whether his career will go the way of Tom Hardy or Eva Green. The biggest challenge faces Pixar alumni Andrew Stanton, making his live action directorial debut, and wrestling with a reported budget north of $250m, with the perceived financial success of the project lies not just Stanton's future but also the potential for an on-going lucrative franchise for Disney. Whilst we're theoretically spoilt for choice among all the British and American releases it has to be said few look significant enough to warrant attendance, with even the best reviewed options getting middling notices at best, so whilst I find myself selecting John Carter (not "of Mars" as originally stated) as the Runs Like a Gay Film of the Week it hardly comes with a ringing endorsement, and should be noted it's only been selected because I can't just leave a gaping hole in it's place.
I had the right idea last week when predicting a holdover title taking the box office crown, unfortunately I picked the wrong one, whilst Woman in Black slipped a very respectable 22% in takings, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel actually experienced a 5% rise in attendance, possible because I went, and has stolen the lead. This Means War was the highest new entry with a respectable, but by no means successful third place. Next week I feel confident in predicting John Carter defeating all other contenders, but this comes with the caveat that it still won't be enough to make the accountants happy.
John Carter
Even if you didn't know about Edgar Rice Burrough's series of sci-fi novels you would almost certainly be aware of their legacy, it's not hyperbolic to state that John Carter and his Martian adventures extensively influenced the space adventure genre including Flash Gordon, Star Wars and Superman unfortunately this familiarity may work against the project as trailers have made it seem highly derivative and safe. The plot revolves around a civil war veteran transplanted to the red planet where the difference in gravitational pull on a smaller planet causes him to appear superhuman in strength, perfect to be used as a pawn in the power struggles between native tribes/species. Taylor Kitsch leads (in what should be a make or break year for the young star) with Willem Dafoe, Thomas Haden Church and Samantha Morton among the Martians hoping to exploit his abilities.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Read on for the full breakdown of releases and trailers this week including Parisien gigolos, paparrazi shy celebrities and a stash of £1 million.
This second John Carter trailer was better than the first, but there's still a feeling of been there, done that, and the damage may have already been done.
Bel Ami
I am not a pervert, but I have had my share of contact with skin flicks, so when I first heard R. Pattz had signed up for a Bel Ami movie I was shocked at the thought of Ed Cullen getting down and dirty with a troupe of Eastern European twinks. Fortuntely, for him, me and the majority of teenage girls, this is a straightforward adaptation of the scandalous 1885 novel by Guy de Maupassant centred around a homeless soldier using his considerable charm and sexual appetite to manipulate the ladies of Paris society. Kristen Scott Thomas, Uma Thurman and Christina Ricci are among the deflowered females.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●○○○○○○
Cleanskin
It doesn't look like Games of Thrones has re-propelled Sean Bean (or Seen Born) back into A-list releases yet, but at least this UK terrorism drama is at least trying to be even handed about the prospect of jihadist cells targeting London streets. Bean is the Secret Service Agent tasked with capturing Abhin Galeya a radicalised Muslim undergoing a crisis of conscience about his proposed course of action.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Kahaani
Bollywood thriller that follows a pregnant woman across the globe, well from London to Kolkata, and she tries to find her missing husband. Hampered by the lack of evidence or even belief that the husband ever existed. Was he just a figment of her imagination? If so what is the pregnancy about? I have to say that's a really good trailer, too.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Sen Kimsim
Turkey remains one of the most interesting exporters of film-making to the UK, in that unlike most European countries where we get the critically lauded art-house selection the Turkish community are fed with a broad range of home-grown hits, whether historical epics like Fetih 1453 a few weeks ago or high concept comedies like this. The private eye plot is based on the hunt for a wealthy heiress, however the widow instigating the search may not be all she seems to be. (Is it me or is that just Chinatown?)
Bollywood thriller that follows a pregnant woman across the globe, well from London to Kolkata, and she tries to find her missing husband. Hampered by the lack of evidence or even belief that the husband ever existed. Was he just a figment of her imagination? If so what is the pregnancy about? I have to say that's a really good trailer, too.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Trishna
Winterbottom has wrestled with Thomas Hardy before, witness his stunning Gold rush set The Claim (based on The Mayor of Casterbridge) or early work Jude (the obscure), and in each he has found unique ways to present Hardy's themes. In his retelling of Tess of the D'Urbervilles the action has been transplanted to modern India where rapid industrialisation and the growth of universal eduction attainment creates a split between the feminist heroine, played by Frieda Pinto, and her traditionalist upbringing. Riz Ahmed is the wealthy hotelier she falls for.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Decoy Bride
Yes, we're already down to 2 blob releases; the first week since October that saw such a high proportion of very crappy looking movies. Alice Eve, getting a baptism of fire this weekend, is the Hollywood actress marrying shy novelist (and former Dr. Who) David Tennant. Unsurprisingly these planned nuptials incite the whole world's press to descend on the remote Scottish community playing host to the wedding of the century, so the happy couple hire Kelly MacDonald to pretend to be a bride in order to lure the snappers away from the real deal. I have no idea how that would work in practise, after all there's a good 6 years and 3 inches difference between them, however I feel confident in predicting a change of heart by the groom before the final reel.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Payback Season
Realism be damned in this morality tale about a Premiership footballer, played by up and coming Adam Deacon, who gets drawn back in to the petty crime and drug deals he thought he's left behind in the council estate he grew up in. Between flashing around in his fast car with his fast women he must ensure his kid brother stays on the straight and narrow and avoid getting caught up in the gangland culture of his youth. If I had as much money as a Premiership footballer there's no way me or my brother would be near the old estate - but maybe that's just me?
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Raven
When John Cussack was first tapped to play influential poet and novelist Edgar Allen Poe there were whispers that this could be the kind of casting coup that nets him his first Oscar nod. Rest assured this pulpy mess looks unlikely to trouble any award bodies at the end of 2012. Watch as historical fact and Poe's lurid prose gets mashed into a dash to identify the serial killer using Poe's suggested methods to off his victims. Alice Eve (again) is one of the pretty girls he must save. No spoiler, but I reckon Poe dies at the end.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
7 Welcome to London
A few weeks ago we witnessed the release of Naachie London a Hindi language movie made exclusively with UK financing, and as the market continually expands, witness the regualr appearance of Bollywood releases at the bottom end of the top ten box office figures, it seems like a reasonable business model. This film centres around 25 year old Jai, a Dehli resident who migrates to London, meets two beautiful girls and gets embroiled in a web of criminal deceit.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
Hard Boiled Sweets
Finally, crashing in as the least appealing movie of the week there is Brit gangster drama that feels like it's been played hundreds of times before with an ex-con at the centre forced back into the game for one more heist, targetting the personal stash of organised crime ganglord Shrewd Eddie. Oh, and he's not the only one trying to get hands on the cash.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●○○○○○○○○○
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
The Messenger
2009. Dir: Oren Moverman. Starring: Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton, Jena Malone and Steve Buscemi. ●●●●○
I had given up on the possibility of a UK release of The Messenger, in spite of it's double Oscar nominations (Best Supporting Actor for Woody Harrelson and Best Screenplay) there hadn't been a sign of release until 2 years after it's US bow. Fortunately it has managed to squeeze out a very limited UK showing - just 5 cinemas - and whilst I wasn't able to make it to one of those I have already bought a copy on DVD and am delighted to be able to review the film here. Like In the Valley of Elah and the supermarket scene of The Hurt Locker this movie takes a look at the Iraq conflict in the context of the aftermath and the casulaties of war, but Oren Moverman's fly on the wall take on a Casulaty Notification Team outdoes both of those movies and could even be seen as the definitive Iraq movie.
The plot is simple, even bare, Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery (Ben Foster), recovering from multiple injuries sustained in battle, is assigned to a Casualty notification unit under the command of Captain Tony Stone (Harrelson) visiting the next of kin of soldiers killed in action and informing the worst. Essentially we follow the two protagonists as they bond during R&R as well as watching them repeat this horrific but necessary job on several iterations, meeting angry fathers (Buscemi) and stunned widows (Morton) and experiencing the wide variety of responses.
Our central protanonists are both superb. Foster is a tightly wound ball of rage unable to appreciate the emotional hurt of his own situation who slowly develops a level of catharsis through noticing the details of others coping with their loss. Whilst a burgeoning romance with Morton's (now) single mother gives him the momentum to reassess his priorities.
Harrelson brings a sarcastic and brittle edge to his former alcoholic with more experience than he would like in his present role, but desperately hiding the insecurities and feelings of survivors guilt.
These two individually put in career best work, but together their scenes are magnificently played and staged. From the cases where the camera follows close behind, hovering over their shoulders, dragging the viewer into the scene, increasing our culpability, their stony faces barely disguising the compassion and understanding behind their eyes. To the final confrontations at Foster's flat, both of them confessing their innermost insecurities admitting to their shared faults. Even the drunken shoot out, boys pretending to die takes on a more oppressive and deeper meaning in context.
The rest of the cast, in small but powerful roles, are equally commendable, with a deep reverance for all the families even when the circumstances could have descending into soap operatics the performances are too subtle to allow that.
Moverman with co-writer Alessandro Camon have crafted a script which fully understands the issues of war and the comaradarie of those who have fought and the consequences of conflict. And Moverman's direction is unique in drawing us into the grounded world they have created.
Ultimately I would be prepared to say this is almost certainly the definitive Iraq war movie, one that fully contextualises the unnecessary loss of life and the effects on the families left behind. I recommend this movie for anyone interested in current affairs and 21st century history.
Friday, 13 May 2011
Samantha Morton
Happy Birthday to
Samantha Morton
34 today
The Nottingham born actress is famous for her low-key and immensely powerful performances in British and American movies, in low budget indies and massive block-busting spectacles. We'll finally get the opportunity to see her supporting turn in Oren Moverman's The Messenger later this month and beyond that I'm most looking forward to Cosmopolis.
Wednesday, 13 May 2009
Samantha Morton
Happy Birthday to
Samantha Morton
32 today
Not the best dress you've ever worn, Sam. Have a great day, looking forward to seeing your next film on Friday. It's a shame that you don't have anything else coming up that looks worth a look.
